Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives AS Pharmacy Should i start MTX?

QUOTE: The monthly blood tests were no big deal and I even had 2 beers every Friday when we went out for lunch. QUOTE

Monthly? I had to go every two weeks for over a year!

Mind you, I had a lot more than two beers a week - My drinking pattern never changed. (wish I had smiles here. ;-))

I was told all the scare tactics too, but hey, regular tests that tell you that your drinking isn't affecting your liver - whoohoo. Parteee ;-)

My understanding was that I had to be on MTX for at least a year before I could be considered eligible for biological therapy.(This is in the UK) Blood tests, gaining weight, losing my hair, tinnitus, vertigo, etc, it was all worth it.

I'm on Humira ten months now and it's like I've been given a new lease of life

Everything has side-effects, Rob - even life. It's got a b u g g e r of a one.lol

Take your time, make an informed choice.

Trust me, you will be fine.

Let me know what you decide, I'd be interested to know.

Yeah i'm going for blood tests every fortnight too. I'm not a big drinker but good to know that a social one or two a week won't hurt. LOLS Irish you mean i can still partee once in a while?!! Phew!... Glad the Humira is working for you! I'm starting out on low dose 7.5mg and felt no nausea or anything after.. so good start so far. I have a psoriatic skin thing going on too which my doc thinks could be linked to my AS and i'm hoping the MTX might help with that. Anybody else have psoriasis skin issues?
Cheers for replies guys. Rob

Hi Rob. I have psoriasis and was hoping for any type of noticeable relief after 3 months of MTX, even a little bit. Didn't notice any improvement.

Yup, I have psoriasis too. Mind you, long before I started MTX mine had eased quite a bit. I only have it now on one eye and one ear - yeah, totally attractive. lol (but a hell of a lot better than it was. ;-))

The MTX did nothing for me either.

Would be really interested to know if it works for you, Rob

Partee on!

Hi Rob, I've been on MTX for 3 years now, initially to treat very stubborn uveitis. It took me about 2 months to get used to it with bad fatigue (started on 15mg/week, max dose to date was 25mg/week) - now it doesn't bother me at all.

In those 3 years I first started having SI pain, so MTX clearly wasn't helping that for me (although humira does these days!) - but now that I'm tapering the MTX I think it may have been doing quite a bit for the peripheral joints instead... am definitely experiencing more hand pain now...

My blood tests are now 3 months apart. Labs have generally been fine apart from the one taken shortly after I had a bit too much alcohol on a weekend - although there were also meds in the mix too at the time - liver function normalised again after stopping the other med. Alcohol in moderation should be ok, I was initially advised to not have any day before, day of or day after the MTX dose (which I adhered to a lot more in the first few years than I do now, especially as I take MTX on a Sat) Having said that I did have one cocktail on an MTX day a month or so ago and was seriously ill the next day - won't be doing that again in a hurry!!! But a glass of wine with dinner is fine. Bear in mind though that it's a good idea to drink lots of water whilst on MTX too!

Hope it helps you!
-Anke